Last week, Justin Timeberlake released Part 2 to his third
solo album The 20/20 Experience. Part 1 of his album released in early March
to grave reviews and moved over 900,000 units. Timberlake and super producer
Timberland managed to resurrect R&B with the first 10 tracks leaving people
on the edge of their seats when the news leaked that there would be 10 more
tracks released later this year to complete the “experience”. (10 tracks on
Part 1+ 10 tracks on Part 2= The 20/20
Experience. Clever right?)
Part 1 used Justin Timberlake’s
reputation for great music to get people to the stores (or their computers) to
buy it. While all 10 tracks were great, it was a little hard for people to
fully grasp and embrace it. After Futuresex/Lovesounds (2006), the newly
married Timberlake had high expectations to meet 7 years later. While Justin
proved to us that good music is timeless, Part
1 kind of caught us off guard.
Justin held on to his love ballad roots while reaching for a new sound.
He mastered the 2-songs-in-one trend in by giving two different versions of
each song in eight minute long tracks. The lengths of each track fused them
together to truly make listening an “experience”. The genus of Timberland and Justin’s
beautiful lyrical ability gave each track its own personality. Even though it
was over all a good album people initially struggled to grasp the “experience”.
Part 2 is like going for seconds at
Thanksgiving; going back for all the good food you had and getting some of that
new food that you couldn’t fit on your first plate. The second half isn’t as dramatic as Part 2. It’s simply 10 tracks of feel
good tracks and bone chilling vocal ability from Justin. Justin and Timberland did away with all the
fancy, experience crap and went back to the R&B textbook while still
keeping up with the lengthy trend. Timberlake gave us another collaboration
with Jay Z and allowed two minutes for Drake to demolish the beat to Caberet. His collab with Jay Z; Murder isn’t as memorable as Suit and Tie, but still meets the
standards of a good track. Take Back the Night takes a page out of
Michael Jackson’s book, and just makes you feel good. One may not be able to
choose their favorite song off of Part 1
but you are sure to know every song by name on Part 2.
If you
ask me which part of the experience is better; without taking anything away
from the greatness of Part 1, I get
more jiggy with Part 2. You can easily play both parts together
without pressing the skip button, but Part
2 has timeless elements to it that can’t be ignored. Aside from the genus
loophole to meet the label’s contractual requirements (Two albums in one year,
we won’t be hearing from Justin for a while after this) , Part 2 comes out just in time for us to learn the words to sing at
his tour which begins this November. (Will twerk for tickets to this concert).
Despite my favor for the latter half, the entire 20/20 Experience gets Tay Approval.
Track Listing for The 20/20 Experience:
Part I
1) Pusha Love Girl
2) Suit& Tie ft Jay Z
3) Down Hold the Wall
4) Strawberry Bubble Gum
5) Tunnel Vision
6) That Girl
7) Let the Groove Get In
8) Mirrors
9) Blue Ocean Floor
Part II
10) Gimme What I Don't Know ( I Want)
11) True Blood
12) Cabaret ft Drake
13) TKO
14) Take Back the Night
15) Murder
16) Drink You Away
17) You Got it On
18) Amnesia
19) Only When I Walk Away
20) Not a Bad Thing
Stalker Notes: Twitter - @jtimberlake
IG- justintimberlake
The 20/20 Experience in its entirety is available on Itunes
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